No matter what form of cultivation we use, its object must be our own mind. When the mind is corrected, in our actions we will naturally benefit living beings and go toward the good. That’s why it is said that a straightforward mind is the place where the path is cultivated. When the mind begins to go astray, and be controlled by desires, people become an army of demons, and their behavior tends toward injuring others to benefit themselves.
许多人觉得修行很苦，尤其不能理解的是，他们在用一些旁人不太理解的方式，比如素食、坐禅等等，对抗一种人性本具的欲望。但对于真正的佛家信仰者来说，这并不苦，而且，他们的向善，并不是因为惧怕“六道轮回”和“因果报应”。对于他们来说，轮回与因果只是简单的事实，跟吸烟有害健康一样，它们不是束缚心灵的僵死教条。
Many people feel that cultivating practice is very difficult. What they especially cannot understand is that they are using methods that other people do not understand much about, like eating vegetarian food, or sitting in meditation, and so on, to resist the desires inherent in human nature. But for those who truly have faith in Buddhism, these practices are not painful. Moreover, their going toward the good is not because they fear “cycling in the six planes of existence” and “karmic retribution.” For them, cycling through birth and death and the workings of cause and effect are simple facts, the same as the fact that smoking damages one’s health; they are not moribund religion doctrines that bind the mind and spirit.
真正的修行者追求的是一种无条件的自由，他们的所有修行，都是为了打破心灵的所有束缚，实现一种完全的自主。所以说，他们当然不会去追求另一种领带、西装与裹脚布。修行中所有看起来像是束缚的东西，都不过是一些方法，它们是帮助修行者远离恶的污染、自净其意的工具，是为他们挡住外界邪风恶雨的那堵墙。当智慧没有觉醒，或者智慧已经觉醒但定力还不够的时候，修行者需要借助戒的力量，约束自己欲望化的行为，保护心中觉悟的火种。当他们能够时时警觉，护持真心的时候，对世界上所有的幻象因缘，就都不会去在乎了。这时，他们就不会为无法拥有什么东西而感到失落。因为，当他们具足究竟智慧，并能用智慧观照世界，发现它的虚幻不实时，就不会再受它的诱惑，这就得到了解脱。有了这种见地的同时，所有疑惑就解除了，解除疑惑，不去受它的束缚，这就是修行追求的解脱。
What is being sought by those who genuinely cultivate practice is an unconditional freedom, and all that they do is in order to break through all that binds the mind and spirit, and realize a total independence. So it is said that of course they are not looking for another kind of suit and tie and footwear. All those things in cultivating practice which at first glance seem like forms of bondage are no more than methods. They are tools to help practitioners distance themselves from evil defilements and purify their own intent. They are barriers to block off the evil wind and rain from the external world. Before wisdom awakens, or when wisdom has awakened, but the power of meditative concentration is still insufficient, people cultivating practice still need to rely on the power of discipline, to restrain their actions tinged by desire, and to preserve the spark of enlightenment in their minds. When they can be awake at all times, and preserve their awareness of the true mind, they will no longer care about all the illusory causes and conditions in the external world. At that point they will not feel any sense of loss, because there is no way for them to have anything. This is because when they are fully equipped with ultimate wisdom, and they can use wisdom to observe the world, and they discover its empty illusory unreal quality, then they will no longer be deluded by it, and then they will have achieved liberation. At the same time that they have this level of perception, all doubts and confusion are removed, and when doubts and confusion are removed, they will not be bound by them – this is the liberation that is sought by cultivating practice.
明白了这一点之后，你再来看世界的五光十色，就会觉出其中的乏味，也会对为此乐而忘返的人们生起由衷的悲悯。你当然明白，那是另一种活法，那种活法也有他们想要的轻松、惬意，你尊重他们。甚至，当一个沉迷于俗乐的人，想将他的快乐强加于你的时候，你还是会感谢他的。因为你知道，他就像个孩子一样，觉得糖果好吃，就想让父母品尝。父母知道孩子的心意，他会真心享受这份心意带给他的快乐，但他不会沉迷其中，更不会强求。因为沉迷于虚幻无常的俗乐是痛苦的。比如，当某个玩具近在咫尺，而这孩子却得不到的时候，他会痛哭流涕，甚至在地板上打滚，他是真的痛苦了。他觉得自己一旦拥有那个玩具，就会比现在快乐十倍，他不知道自己很快就会对那玩具感到厌倦，也不知道那玩具迟早会坏，他只知道自己想得到它。你理解孩子的痛苦，但你不一定要放纵他们的欲望。最重要的是，不再是孩子的你，肯定不会为了跟他们争抢玩具而打成一团。
After you understand this point, and you take another look at the colorful world, you will become aware of how monotonous it is, and you will give rise to sincere sympathy for the people who have become so besotted with it that they forget to return home. You will surely understand that this is another way of living, and this way of living has the sense of ease and satisfaction that they want, and you respect them. It may even happen that a person who is immersed in worldly pleasurewants to take his happiness and add it to yours, and you feel gratitude toward him. This is because you know that he is like a child who feels that sweet fruit is good to eat, and wants to let his parents have a taste. The parents know what the child has in mind, and hewholeheartedly enjoys this happiness which his thoughts have given him, but if he is not indulging in it, he will not demand it any more. This is because indulging in worldly pleasures that are empty and illusory and impermanent is something that brings suffering. For example, when a certain toy is close at hand, but the child cannot get it, then he will moan and cry, and even roll around on the floor – he is truly suffering. He feels that once he has this toy, then he will be ten times happier than he is now. He does not know that he will soon get bored with this toy, and he does not know that sooner or later the toy will break – he only knows that he wants to get it. You understand the child’s pain, but you do not necessarily have to indulge his desires. What is most important is that you, who are no longer a child, do not join in struggling with children over toys.
楼房、小车、钞票等等东西，实际上就是大人们的玩具。孩子们关注玩具，不断根据见闻提高自己对玩具的要求，我们也是一样。但我们比他们更贪心。因为我们心中的“玩具”更多，诱惑更大。这些玩具就是欲望。
Apartment buildings, cars, money, all these things, are in fact toys for adults. Children focus their attention on toys, and continually raise their own demands for toys based on what they have seen and heard, and we are the same way. But we are even greedier than they are, because the “toys” in our minds are more numerous, and the temptations are greater. These toys are our desires.
当你发现这个世界上的一切都是假象、虚幻、无常、没有自性时，发现的这见地本身，就可以让你解脱。这个时候，你就要换一种方式锻炼心灵了。因为，当你的心灵改变了状态的时候，以前的方法和规矩就会变成另外一种障碍，你要把它们也从心里扫出去。不过，你得到了一点点东西，就觉得自己已经进入了某种境界，要超越所有名相，包括修行仪轨、善与恶的分别、正见等等，这反而是毫无益处的。因为你不能确定自己真的摆脱了欲望的控制。凡夫的无分别，不是智者的无分别。因为，前者是用真理的名义为自己开脱，后者则是一种智慧的显现。不过，无论用什么样的方式修炼，对象都应该是我们的心，而不是身体，更不是某种觉受与神通之类的东西。心正了的时候，就成为佛道，行为上自然利众向善，所以才说，直心是道场。当心开始邪恶，被欲望所控制时，人就是魔军了，行为上也会偏向于损人利己。我们所说的邪魔外道，就是由邪心导致的。
When you discover that everything in this world is a false form, an empty illusion, impermanent, without inherent nature, this level of perception which you have discovered can itself let you be liberated. At this time, you must change the way you refine your mind and spirit. This is because, when your mind and spirit have changed state, the methods and guidelines from before will turn into another kind of barrier, and you must sweep them out of your mind. But if you get a little bit of attainment and then feel that you have already entered a certain state, and you must transcend all names and forms, including the guidelines for cultivating practice, and distinctions between good and evil, and correct perception and so on, despite what you may think, there is no benefit in this. This is because you still cannot be certain that you have really escaped from the control of desires. Having no distinctions is not the same for the ordinary person as having no distinctions is for the person of wisdom. This is because, for the former, it means taking the idea of truth as his own liberation, while for the later, it is the manifestation of wisdom. However, no matter what form of cultivation we use, its object must be our own mind, and not the body, and especially not something like a kind of feeling or magical power. When the mind is set straight, in our actions we will naturally benefit living beings and go toward the good. That’s why it is said that a straightforward mind is the place where the path is cultivated. When the mind begins to go astray, and is controlled by desires, people become an army of demons, and their behavior tends toward injuring others to benefit themselves. Those whom we speak of as evil demons and those outside the Path are those being led along by misguided minds.
《西游记》里面的唐僧之所以成为唐僧，并不是因为他身上的肉好吃，而是因为其心正。心正故成“圣僧”，心邪便是妖魔。孙悟空之所以成为孙悟空，成为齐天大圣，最后成为斗战胜佛，就是因为他的心一天天消除了无明，消除了烦恼，消除了散乱，最后证得了一种安详和宁静。所以说，心是轮回的种子，六道就是这个心造的。
In [the classic sixteenth century Chinese novel] The Journey to the West, the reason the Tang Monk became the Tang Monk was not because his flesh was delicious, but because his mind was correct. Because his mental state was correct, he was called “the Sage Monk.” If his mind had been misguided, he would have been an evil demon. The reason Sun Wukong became Sun Wukong and became a great sage, and in the end became “The Victorious Buddha,” was because day by day his mind eliminated its ignorance and its afflictions and its scattering, and finally realized peace and tranquility. That is why it is said that the mind is the seed of cycling through birth and death, and the six planes of existence are created by this mind.
佛陀说：“诸恶莫作，众善奉行，自净其意，是诸佛教。”就是要我们远离诸恶，奉行诸善，用善念来净化自心。一个人还没有觉悟时，“诸恶莫作，众善奉行”是一种行为准则；当一个人开悟之后，它就变成了一个自然而然的结果。其中的区别，就在于心的状态。
The Buddha said: “Do not commit any evil deeds, and faithfully carry out all forms of good – this is the teaching of all the buddhas.” Here he is requiring us to keep away from all evils, and to faithfully carry out all forms of good, and to use good thoughts to purify our own minds. When a person has not yet become enlightened, “Do not commit any evil deeds, and faithfully carry out all forms of good” is a standard for how to behave. After a person becomes enlightened, it becomes a spontaneous natural result. The distinction here lies in the condition of the person’s mind.
在你还没开悟，仍然认假成真时，往往会把一切都看得非常实在。你在乎别人怎么看自己，也在乎自己失去了什么。的心里常常回荡着一种悲情的巨响，你的内心深处，似乎蜷缩着一个无助无力且不被需要的孩子。他害怕黑暗，更害怕黑暗中的未知。在这看似真实的痛苦中，你几乎想给自己一个有力的拥抱，但你找不到拥抱的对象。因为，它只存在于无穷无尽的妄念当中。
When you have not yet become enlightened, and you still accept the false as true, you always look upon everything as very real. You care about how other people see you, and you are concerned that you will lose something. The sound of sadness is constantly reverberating in your mind, and in the depths of your inner mind it is as if a helpless, powerless, but unneeded child is curled up. He is afraid of the darkness, and even more afraid of the unknown things lurking in the darkness. In the midst of this pain and suffering which seems so real, you almost want to give yourself a powerful hug, but you cannot find the object to hug. This is because it only exists in the midst of the endless false thoughts.
当各种妄念都停了下来，而你的智慧又没有昏昧，并能进行妙察时，真心就可能显现。就好像云彩消散之后，明朗的天空就出现了；就好像风息浪止，大海如镜。但妄念止息还不够，还要有一种光明。啥光明？智慧的光明。你不能像快入睡时那样，那时候虽然也空也寂，什么也不想，但那是昏沉。那不是真心，而是一种顽空。真心是空寂而灵炯、灿然具光明的，就像能够折射光芒的水晶，非常纯净，却又充满了灵动的力量。所以真心也被称为明空。
When the various false thoughts all stop, and your wisdom is no longer obscured, and you are able to go on and practice wondrous observing, then it is possible for the true mind to appear. It is like the clear bright sky emerging after the clouds have disappeared. It is like the ocean being like a mirror when the wind stops and the waves cease. But it is not enough for false thoughts to stop – there still has to be a light. What light? The light of wisdom. You cannot be as you are when you are about to fall asleep: at that time. although it is also empty and still, and you are not thinking of anything, that is a murky drowsy state. This is not the true mind, but rather a kind of inert emptiness. The true mind is empty and still, yet spiritually aglow, shining with light. It is like a crystal that can reflect light rays, and is very pure and clear, and yet is filled with the force of spiritual movement. This is why the true mind is also called bright emptiness.
安住于明空，安住于真心，让这种遍及一切的智慧光明照亮你的人生，改变你的心灵，那就是最好的修行。
To abide in peace in the bright emptiness, to abide in peace in the true mind, to let the light of the wisdom that reaches everything illuminate your life and transform your mind and spirit – this is the best form of cultivating practice.
